


Stranger Danger

by hazellepotter



Series: Summer Love [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Brief Sexual Content, Developing Relationship, Drug Use, F/M, Humor, Love, Muggle AU, Rebellion, Sarcasm, Strangers to Lovers, Summer, Summer Love, Summer Party, bond, summer job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-17 00:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11840613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazellepotter/pseuds/hazellepotter
Summary: Hermione Granger was an anomaly. He hated himself for wanting to figure her out.





	Stranger Danger

When Cormac imagined getting a summer job, he didn’t imagine he would be working at a mini-mart. He knew his ego was large, but he figured he could talk his way into something better. He had entitlement issues, and they were well-known to most people. But coming to a brand new town for the whole summer gave him the expectation that he would have an edge.

_He was wrong._

So it was now 11:33 pm on a Wednesday night in July, and he was currently stocking tampons on the shelves in the feminine hygiene aisle. He would be lying if he said his pride didn’t take a hit.

But he was relieved to find out that it wasn’t only his pride that was being taken down a few notches tonight.

When he saw her walk in with her hot friend, she looked frantic. Her cheeks were flushed against her tanned skin, and she was nervously rubbing her palms on the top of her bare thighs. _Naturally_ , Cormac’s eyes lingered down to her legs that were nicely exposed because of her cut-offs. He picked up quickly that rubbing her legs was a nervous habit, because he could see that her skin was bright red.

“Ginny!” She hissed, “I can’t ask _him_ if he has any tampons! Do you know how ridiculous that would be? _He doesn’t even look like he knows what a feminine hygiene product is!”_

Casually, Cormac strolled up next to them. He winked at the girl’s hot friend who snorted in response, and then he looked at the distressed girl with too much pride.

“Actually, I was just re-stocking the tampons,” he said loudly, “Would you like me to escort you?”

Her face was bright red again, and he had never seen someone’s glare come across so piercing.

“Keep your voice down! The whole world doesn’t need to know.”

Her friend tried to suppress a laugh, and Cormac looked around the store dramatically. _No one else was there but the three of them._ Cormac knew, because he was closing tonight.

“Well, I know I am a pretty big deal in this world, but I wouldn’t say I’m the _whole_ world.”

“Just show me where the damn tampons are!” She snapped.

Cormac eyed her for a few seconds longer, but the girl didn’t dare look away from him. She was challenging him, and he found it _hot._

“Fine,” he relented, “They are right down aisle four.”

She huffed, and her friend said thank you as they made their way down the aisle.

Cormac went back up to the cash register, and he heard her hiss again, “ _They only have cardboard applicators!_ I don’t know if this late night swimming is even worth it! If we just wait until tomorrow, I can go to a different store and find better tampons.”

“You can’t let Harry and Ron down, Hermione,” her friend told her, “You will have to get over your fear of tampons sooner or later. This is a spontaneous adventure, you need to learn to be more spontaneous.”

Cormac had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. _This girl was insane._

The next words that came out of her mouth Cormac couldn’t make out, but they were soon up in front of him again and ready to buy the cheap ass cardboard applicator tampons. They were the only brand they stocked in the store.

“You really need better tampon options,” the girl complained, “Some of us have certain _needs_.”

“You’re lucky we even have tampons for your late night endeavors,” he commented.

She turned bright red again and practically threw her credit card at him.

He smirked as he looked down at the name on the card.

**_Hermione Jean Granger._ **

It was a pretty name. It was almost a little too elegant for a girl with hair as bushy as hers and an attitude as loud, but he felt like it fit her well.

He inserted her card into the chip reader, and the purchase ended up being $4.87.

As he handed her back her card, she stuffed the tampons in her red cloth bag and mumbled, “Thank you, for your help.”

She started to walk away, but before they made it back outside and through the sliding doors, Cormac called, “Anytime Granger!”

_And he meant it._

 

* * *

 

The next time he saw her, it was unexpected.

His cousin Marcus always threw summer bashes. _Like almost every weekend._ He remembered hearing about them when Marcus would visit him when they were in high school. But now that he was living with him for the summer, he was finally able to experience them himself.

He had his eye on a hot blonde by the name of Daphne before she walked in. She was holding her own bottle filled with water, and she gave her keys immediately to Oliver who was collecting them all. As Oliver passed Marcus, he gave him a kiss on the cheek, and everyone hooted.

Hermione seemed to smile at that, and it made Cormac wonder how she knew them.

The redhead named Ginny who was with her in the mini-mart came in hand in hand with a dark haired guy wearing prescription ray-bans, and another redhead came in behind her looking at Hermione nervously. Hermione seemed to be ignoring him, and that’s when Cormac took his chance.

“I never would have expected this to be your scene.”

He motioned his hands to the tables of beer pong and people playing strip poker in the living room, and he watched as she just shrugged nonchalantly. _He never would have expected her not to care._

“I am a college student, after all.”

She took a drink from her water bottle, and he chuckled to himself.

“Then let me get you a real drink,” he offered.

“No thanks,” she declined, “I don’t trust strangers or weird guys I have only met once at mini-mart.”

“I’m not weird.”

She gave him a look that basically said he was without uttering a sound, and this made him roll his eyes.

“What made you so high and mighty?” He asked.

She laughed to herself and took another big swig of her water. Rather than answering his question, she replied, “See you around, _Cormac.”_

As she tried to walk away, he called after her, “How the hell do you know my name?”

She turned around and rolled her eyes like it was so obvious.

_“It was on your name tag as you were re-stocking tampons at the mini-mart.”_

Some people turned around as they heard her words, and he watched as Marcus snorted from laughter with his group of friends.

Cormac shot him a look, and he was pissed knowing that she made him blush.

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, he was in his bedroom with the blonde named Daphne. She was pulling down his pants to suck him off when he looked out his window to see the redheaded guy escorting Hermione out to her car. He got in the driver’s seat, and she was clearly too drunk to drive.

She puked in Marcus’s bushes, and Cormac felt a rush of _concern_ wash over him, but then he noticed the guy with the ray-bans quickly took her water bottle from her and dumped it out.

She wasn’t drinking water. _She brought her own makeshift alcohol._

This made Cormac smile, and he smiled even more as Daphne finally went down on him.

_All he could think about was how this was quite a night._

 

* * *

 

It was a Monday afternoon at 4:12 pm.

_She surprised him by coming in to buy a pack of cigarettes._

“Are you sure you want these?” He asked her, “They can kill you, you know.”

She gave him a disgusted look.

“They aren’t for me,” she scoffed, “They are for my roommate.”

“The redhead?”

“No, my other one. Why does it matter who they’re for? I’m legally able to buy them. Just ring them up.”

She looked uptight. She was tapping her high-heels impatiently, and he figured she just got off work.

“Where do you work?” He asked casually, “You’re pretty dressed up.”

“I’m an HR intern, but I’m not going to tell you _where.”_

He rolled his eyes, “Are you still doing the whole stranger danger thing?”

“You technically are a stranger.”

As he handed her the pack of cigarettes, she tucked a curl behind her ear and said, “Goodbye Cormac, I _might_ see you around.”

He didn’t ask her what she meant by that, but he gave her a sarcastic wave.

As soon as she was out the sliding glass doors, he peaked out the windows to see where she was parked. That’s when he watched her get into her old red Subaru from the other night. _She would be the type to have a cheaper car to save money._

What he saw next should have surprised him, _but it didn’t at all_. She opened the pack of cigarettes and lit one for herself before she drove away.

They were for her, _not her roommate._ He wasn’t even sure if she had a roommate other than the hot redhead.

Hermione Granger was an anomaly. _He hated himself for wanting to figure her out._

 

* * *

 

Cormac wasn’t the type to take strolls through parks, but it was such a nice day on his day off that he couldn’t really help it. Plus, Marcus apparently had a tutoring session for an upcoming summer course that he really needed to pass. _Which meant he was alone for the day._

As he walked through the park, he listened to the birds chirp and closed his eyes to feel the warm breeze hit his face.

He eventually decided to sit down, and when he did, he was surprised to see that Hermione Granger was sitting under a tree in front of him with _Marcus._ She was talking in hushed tones and pointing at certain sentences in the book in front of her. Cormac watched intently, when suddenly Hermione turned her head around and caught his eye.

He felt himself flush and felt _stupid_ , but she just gave him an annoyed expression. She made a comment to Marcus, because he turned around saw him, too. Marcus didn’t look annoyed though, he just _smirked._

They decided to finish their tutoring session. He wasn’t sure if it was because he “interrupted” them, or if they were _really_ done. But Marcus winked at him as he walked away and toward his car without a word, and Hermione approached him with her book bag slung over her shoulder and her arms crossed.

“This is why I call you stranger danger,” she commented, “You are literally _stalking_ me now.”

He was surprised when she decided to sit next to him. She crossed her legs and started picking at her nails, and he had no idea what to say. She was acting too casual, and he wasn’t used to it.

So naturally, _it made him blurt out something stupid._

“I saw you light that cigarette the other day. You lied just like you did at the party.”

“I didn’t lie at the party!” She retorted, “And why were you watching me as I left the store?”

He avoided her question and shot back, “You definitely did lie at the party! You acted like your water bottle was just water and you didn’t drink! I saw you leave drunk, what was in your water bottle, pure vodka?”

He watched as her cheeks turned pink, and she glared again.

“Why are you always watching me?”

“Why are you trying to act like someone you clearly aren’t?”

_Silence._

She blinked a few times, and her mouth opened and closed quickly.

“Sorry,” he said, “That was uncalled for.”

“No,” she said, “ _You’re right._ I’m just trying new things.”

“Why are you trying these things, though? From what I have observed, they don’t seem like you.”

“Does it matter?”

_No, it really didn’t._ And Cormac figured he should respect her privacy. So he decided to be playful again. Maybe that is what she needed. _She didn’t need a father_ , she needed someone who didn’t give her shit for her decisions. He knew how that felt. _That was why he was at Marcus’s for the summer in the first place._

“Want to get high?” He teased.

He expected her to say no and roll her eyes like she usually would, but instead, she just shrugged.

_“Why not?”_

He looked at her for a second and blinked a few times as he processed her words.

“Uh-uh yeah, _okay._ I have a joint in my car.”

She got up from the bench and motioned for him to as well.

“Well then,” she said, _“Lead the way.”_

 

* * *

 

Once they got to Cormac’s car and lit the joint, Hermione took the first drag.

“You have done this before?” He guessed.

“Once in high school,” she answered honestly, “And I _hated_ it.”

“Then why are you doing it now?”

She sighed before she took another drag.

“Why do you have so many questions today? I didn’t take you as that kind of guy.”

“I’m just trying to figure you out,” he admitted, _“You surprise me.”_

She handed him the joint and turned her head to face him. She lifted her brow like she was contemplating something.

Cormac coughed as he took his drag, and Hermione smirked.

_“Your first time?”_ She joked.

“Oh, yeah,” he answered sarcastically, _“For sure.”_

They laughed and bantered back and forth until they finished the joint. Then they just let themselves brew in his car. Cormac didn’t even think about the fact that they were hot-boxing, but it definitely led to a more interesting time.

Hermione was very high, and she got to the point that she couldn’t stop laughing. Which also made Cormac laugh. It was a never ending cycle.

_“Shit,”_ Hermione finally said, “Do you just want me to be honest with you?”

Cormac grabbed a bag of potato chips from his back seat that he swore were probably stale, but he still popped some in his mouth.

“Yeah, that would be cool, I guess.”

She took a deep breath and turned her whole body to face him again. Her eyes were as red as her tank top, and Cormac found that thought _funny._ He had to try hard to control himself from laughing once she spoke.

“You know those redheads I’m always around? They’re brother and sister.”

“I figured,” he said, “They look very similar. _They both have red hair_.”

Hermione managed to roll her eyes.

“Anyway, Ginny is my best friend. I was into her brother Ron for a long time, but I just found out recently he isn’t into my like that. We are super good friends, too. He said he wasn’t into me because I’m not _adventurous enough_ , and he actually likes my other roommate Pansy.”

“Marcus’s friend Pansy? _Pansy Parkinson?”_

“Yeah, she’s my other roommate.”

Cormac couldn’t get over how small of a world that all was and how the world itself was actually very small in _the universe_ , but he knew that was the weed talking. Hermione continued on.

“Anyway, so, I have just sort of rebelled. People think I’m doing this to prove something to Ron, but I’m honestly over it. _I’m doing all this to prove something to myself._ I’m proving to myself that I’m not lame.”

“You don’t seem lame to me,” Cormac answered honestly, “And that’s not the weed talking. You are interesting. You have so much… _spunk_.”

“I have.. _spunk?”_

“Yeah, you have a lot of attitude. You seem to have a lot going for you.”

He watched as her cheeks turned red, and she avoided looking at him. She finally rolled down his window to let in some fresh air.

“Thanks Cormac, you aren’t as egotistical as you try to act like you are either.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he joked.

She turned to look at him seriously, “No, you really aren’t. If you were as egotistical as you try to act, you wouldn’t be listening to me right now. You wouldn’t have been concerned about my weird behaviors. You don’t even truly know me, and you could see something was off. That makes you special, _or something_.”

_He convinced himself it was the weed talking._ She probably thought he was currently shitting rainbows or something, so it stopped him from making a move. He wouldn’t take advantage of her. He wasn’t that kind of guy deep down. _She was right._

Instead, he replied, “Thanks Granger.”

Her genuine smile was enough to make him feel like he had done his good deed for the day, or maybe for the whole summer.

 

* * *

 

Cormac wasn’t expecting to see her after that day. He wasn’t sure _why_. Maybe it was because that conversation seemed final. She had figured her shit out, and she had figured _him_ out.

So he was surprised when she came into the mini-mart two days later and gave him a shy smile. As she walked up to the counter, she rubbed her palms against her slacks and tucked a curl behind her ear. She seemed _vulnerable_ , and he wasn’t used to that side of Hermione Granger.

“Hey,” she said softly.

He felt himself blush, and he felt _stupid._ This wasn’t some high school romance, but she was impacting him in that kind of way.

“Hey,” he replied, “Did you just get done with your internship?”

“Yeah, it was a long day.”

Cormac gave her a sympathetic look, but he went back to organizing cigarette boxes behind the cash register.

“Do you want any?” He asked her seriously.

She shook her head no.

Hermione stood there in silence for a moment, and Cormac had no idea what to say. _Should he tell her he had a good time with her the other day? Did she just want to forget about it? What was going on?_

But she answered his questions by saying, “I had a lot of fun talking to you and getting to know you. I was wondering if you would want to go and get dinner? Unless you’re closing tonight, we can do it some other time. But only if you _want_ to.”

She was rambling from nerves, and Cormac found it _cute._ He couldn’t stop himself from smirking, and she noticed.

“I would love to go out with you, Granger. I actually get off in five minutes.”

He watched as she visibly sighed from relief and relaxed.

“ _Good_ , I’ll wait for you in my car.”

He winked and said, _“That sounds great.”_

He swore she rolled her eyes as she walked away from him and back outside. _He knew things were far from over._

 

* * *

 

That night, _Cormac kissed Hermione Granger._ That’s when he realized they were no longer strangers, but maybe they never were. Maybe they were just two parts of the same soul drifting through life until they finally found each other; _maybe they needed each other to feel understood._

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Summer Vacation Challenge held by the Harry Potter Rare-Pair Network and Serpent and Lion Network on Tumblr.
> 
> Check out these networks and their challenges at these links if you're interested:  
> http://hprarepairnet.tumblr.com  
> http://slytherdornet.tumblr.com


End file.
